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| Crosbie greeting Prince Charles and Camilla who were on a royal visit to Canada in 2009. Note the seal skin coat...lol |
John Crosbie who is now getting on in years has had a colourful career to say the least. As a Cabinet minister in the Mulroney Conservative government, Crosbie was known to be outspoken and controversial. To this day he is not shy about saying what he means and to hell with what is considered politically correct. Yes, a man after my own heart. However, that is not to say that John is not a little "unpolished" at times.
Well folks, John bless his heart, is once more the center of attention for those on the left and the politically correct. Crosbie who now serves as 12th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador stepped into it last week while swearing in cabinet ministers. So what did he say that has caused an uproar?
Apparently it went like this....... "This fellow said, 'I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, social security, retirement funds, etc., I called a suicide hotline and got a call centre in Pakistan. When I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.' "
Crosbie got boisterous laughs from the roomful of Progressive Conservative government members at the time. However it later made headlines after the St. John's Telegram reached a Pakistan students group at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The group's president told the paper Crosbie's remarks were a shocking reference to stereotypes ( was he referring to truck drivers, the suicidal, or Pakistani's?). Later, when Premier Kathy Dunderdale was asked to respond she described them as "clearly inappropriate.".
John must be mellowing in his later years as he admitted he was taken aback by the criticism and later issued an apology for the remark. Ahh, how the mighty have fallen. Some of us still remember John when he was in his prime and uttered such classic remarks as......
At a Tory fundraising dinner in Victoria in 1990, he took aim at his Liberal rival Sheila Copps, who was at the time running for her party's leadership.Crosbie serenaded the party faithful with "Pour me another tequila, Sheila, and lay down and love me again,", borrowing from the song Tequila Sheila.
In another poke at Sheila a few years earlier during a debate in parliament he told her to "just quiet down, baby.". This fired up women's groups across the country and had Copps respond with the snappy comeback "I'm nobody's baby".
Here are some of my personal favorites quips from Johnie......
"No, and I'm goddamned not going to either! I'll tell you that, and I'm telling you that there isn't one person in the whole goddamn government who's read it. I'm the only one honest enough to say so... At this stage of my life I don't have to kiss anybody's ass, I can say what I goddamn well like."
(when asked if he had read the 1988 Free-Trade Agreement)
"It is better to be sincere in one language than to be a twit in two."
(referring to his being uni-lingual and Trudeau being bilingual)
"Down in Newfoundland, we can hardly sleep for wondering when St. Pierre and Miquelon are going to invade." (on the state of the Canadian military in 1983)
None the less after last weeks incident Crosbie stated he will tone down his official remarks and "strive to be more boring", as he put it."When I am no longer lieutenant-governor, I intend to speak my mind on any issues I wish, but at the present time, I have to be circumspect.You don't want to be offending people if they're that sensitive."
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